1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a piercing apparatus. Specifically, the invention relates to a piercing apparatus for a lining material, which for example, is to be aligned with an overlying or underlying material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a piercing operation according to the related art will be described in detail in relation to an installation operation for ceiling material in an automotive interior, which operation is used for example only.
As may be seen in the drawings, layers of ceiling lining material 1 (1a, 1b) are pierced to produce small openings 3a, 3b, which may be utilized for the mounting of a sun-visor, or other vehicle interior accessory. When the layers of lining material 1a, 1b are overlaid for installation in the vehicle, a certain degree of overlap is present between the small opening 3a and the small opening 3b. Conventionally, to carry out such a piercing operation, an apparatus including at least two piercing members (blades, needles, or the like) must be utilized.
However, for providing piercing of identical shape to two layers of lining material for an automotive ceiling according to the conventional art, strict positional alignment of the small holes 3(a), 3(b) formed by the piercing apparatus is subject to slight variation or distortion in the shape of the holes, or alternatively, strict uniformity of shape is subject to a certain amount of positional slip, or variation. If piercing of uniform size and shape are desired to be formed in a multi-layer lining material with such an overlap, at least two piercing members must be utilized and the overall costs of processing are increased.
Further, when piercing is carried out for each layer of lining material, additional processing must be carried out for removal of a cut-out portion of the material and processing complexity is increased. In addition, according to the above, the overall speed of piercing processing will be reduced. Also, during alignment of materials subject to separate processing, a certain amount of slip is likely to occur and overall accuracy is reduced, particularly with respect to the necessary overlap portion of the small openings 3(a) and 3(b).
Thus, it has been required to provide a piercing apparatus which is low in cost, accurate in operation, and which can perform piercing operations at a high rate of speed with simple structure.
Also, it is desirable to provide a piercing apparatus capable of simultaneously carrying out piercing of materials along with removal of a cut-out portion thereof.
In addition, it is highly advantageous to provide a single piercing arrangement which is effective for carrying out piercing processing for forming both upper and lower small holes without slippage or distortion of either position or shape of the formed openings.